It’s been 7 months since we’ve updated the news feature, we’ve been really occupied with so many project, of course! From art installations to having workshop for people of all ages; we’ve also got visits by young start-up companies from across South East Asia. We’ve been travelling around Malaysian states, teaching participants about upcycling and as well, with hopes of creating a flourishing creative scene.
Open Source Circular Economy (OSCE) Days KL
Biji-biji fixing solar panel green technology
Biji-biji demonstrating the pedal-powered USB chrger in OSCE workshop
One of the events would be the Open Source Circular Economy (OSCE) Days KL.We were very excited to not only share with city dwellers but also rural villagers. Ourfirst workshop was with the Orang Asli of Kampung Pos Gedong in Bidor, Perak. The village had no road linkages, let alone internet access. Hearing of renewable energy and sustainability meant a whole fresh dynamic of understanding their daily lives, and the future of their environment.
Of course, we didn’t just go there, held a workshop, and called it a day. We introduced and went through the basic mechanics of operating and maintaining the 3 renewable energy generators. Solar powered street lights, pico hydro-generator, and as well as a pedal-powered USB charger. You may think those generators sound fancy and complicated, but they are actually simple components that most of villagers can do. And of course, the technology to them are open source!
Other than the mechanical generators, we also shared with the community a beautiful time. The air was filled with excitement from people of all ages. This project gave us an opportunity to expand our understanding of, spirit and awareness not only the urban areas but also, the rural which has made us really keen to carry on this project into a high impact project in Pos Gedong, and possibly many more off-the-grid villages in Malaysia in the future.
Rainforest World Music Festival 2016.
We also travelled to the east of Malaysia. Kuching, Sarawak, haven for the hornbills and on of the oldest rainforests in the world. We weren’t based in the city itself but in beautiful Santubong. In Sarawak Cultural Village at Mount Santubong. We put up our lighting installations and also workshops for the families and people around the world that gathered for the 3 days of the Rainforest World Music Festival 2016.
Precious Plastic Community
In Bangsar Village or Publika, there was a bicycle link to a blender displayed in the middle of the mall. This time, it wasn’t a juicer but a plastic shredder!
Based on the open source project, we worked together with Kiehl’s, the cosmetics brand, who took the opportunity to bring the machine around public places in Kuala Lumpur, advocating the plastic recycling of your healthcare or beauty products containers. We kept all the shredded plastic, and plan to use them for the next phase of the Precious Plastic project. What made this project more awesome was that the plastic recycling machine can be built by anyone! It brings recycling down to a community level so that anyone could operate it and everyone can now easier practise the elusive process of recycling.
Urbanscapes 2016
Then, there was the most memorable of moments in our years of building and creating. In the Urbanscapes 2016 Closing Party, not only did we build a Steampunk style Stage and another stagewrapped like a ‘Nasi Lemak’.Built with scrap material, of course. William, who regularly heads the construction of our temporary structures and large installations, took the opportunity to announce his dive into married life! Proposing to his girlfriend, in front of the festival’s audience, on the stage that he built! Talk about D.I.Y.
Changemaker Xchange
At the same time, Gurpreet, our co-founder, was selected for the ChangemakerXchange program in Japan. ChangemakerXchange is a global collaboration platform for young social entrepreneurs. It gathers some of the world’s most exciting changemakers at summits around the world for the exchange and co-creation of ideas. 20 people were selected globally and had the fortune of greeting, meeting and sharing with changemakers from around the world, in Osaka, Japan!
Of course, that wasn’t all that happened in the past 7 months. Being in Biji-biji, you see changes and developments taking place by the day!
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